Ask the Expert: How to Ensure ICD-10 Success

Wednesday, August 12th, 12 p.m. ET

The October 1 deadline is nearly here, and if your practice isn’t prepared for ICD-10, your cash flow could take a serious hit. In this free webinar, our resident ICD-10 expert will help you assess your practice’s readiness, and discuss crucial strategies to ensure you thrive through the transition.

Your first step towards thriving through the rise of self-pay can begin right now. In this free webinar, you’ll learn strategies for solid practice management, how to develop a specific plan to improve self-pay patient payments and essential staff training tips.

Join self-pay expert Emily Putnam as she discusses:

How to create a self-pay policy—and what every strategy should include

Staying Independent and Profitable as Independent Physicians

Join us Wednesday, June 18th at 12:15 p.m. ET

Faced with mounting costs, declining reimbursement, and increased complexity brought on by the Affordable Care Act, a growing number of independent physicians are feeling pressured to give up on private practice.

But being acquired isn’t the only option for survival. With the right technology partner for electronic medical records, practice management and care coordination, you’re free to remain independent—without having to go it alone.

Dr. Jeff A. Drasnin of ESD Pediatric Group will talk about how his independent practice has remained profitable in the face of these challenges, and what it takes for other independent physicians to do the same.

How to choose the right technology for your practice

The importance of aligned incentives with your vendor

Transparency in claims collection

Keeping the focus on patients

How his practice increase collections by 60%

We believe that as independent physicians, the only people you should have to be accountable to are your patients. They’re your patients, it’s your practice, and it’s your financial independence. Register now to learn how to keep it that way.

Join athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush for a special keynote address on common physician pain points, followed by an exclusive Q&A and expert-led sessions.

“Where does it hurt?” is a common question caregivers may ask their patients. But when was the last time that question was posed to the caregivers themselves? That’s exactly what Mr. Bush believes we, as an industry and as a country, need to do more often. At this special event, we’ll discuss these common pain points and industry challenges, with:

New and seasoned Practice Managers and Physicians know that handling the day to day tasks of running a medical practice can be time consuming. Administrative tasks and responsibilities have increased with ever-changing government regulations, Medicare laws, and legal concerns. Efficiency appears to be a losing battle, and stressful workflows take a toll on delivering compassionate patient care. A paperless office was presented as a time and cost saving endeavor that would lead to better patient care. Or was it a trick?

Sound familiar?

A polished representative came to the office to demonstrate their EMR, Practice Management, and Medical Billing system. You were convinced, “this is the solution, what a relief, Ah…!” Thousands of dollars and countless hours spent on implementation and training. Finally, the “go live” date arrived. Then, reality hit; the staff forgot how to upload documents, the doctor was in the exam room trying unsuccessfully to view an MRI with the patient, and you frantically tried to fix the issues. The workflow stopped as panic took over. You finally phoned customer support and you were placed on hold. “Ugh,” you began to question…”How much longer will the learning curve actually take?” “Did I make the right system selection?” “Why did I try to improve efficiency?” “It really wasn’t that bad and where is that polished sales person now?”

Throughout the past two years, I have rotated mainly through one system. To my dismay, it had been one of the worst as far as electronic health records (EHR) are concerned. Most days I observed the workflow, thinking “If they just did this, they would cut the duration of morning rounds in half.” Let us look past the point that I was usually bored out of my mind!
There was just so much wasted time in dealing with documentation and communication. We are in the digital age. It really shouldn’t be this complicated. I cannot imagine how frustrated the residents and attending physicians must have gotten during this nonsense. This part of the job, which is non-medical, has likely been the direct cause of many doctors’ burnout statuses.
Since I have limited exposure to other systems, I am curious to know if this was a well-below average situation or a fairly normal one (feel free to comment below).